Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

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In the view of the authors, it would be erroneous to break now but also try to continue
pushing onwards with the same tools. Today we are highly conscious of educational
change, although much of what we know is centred on why change fails. What we require
to commence change, on many occasions, is considerably different from what we need to
keep it alive.
Innovation in education is highly influenced by local conditions (such as the respective
school, department or students) and the specifics of a given discipline. Therefore,
ultimately, we should consider innovation as a change planned as a response to the
problems we perceive at our educational centres and on our degree courses, rather than
thinking of it as the introduction of a new method or methodology.
Therefore, we consider that the view of a degree course as a unit and common project is
indispensable in channelling the initiatives required to improve education and learning.
The generation of an environment and local capacity for innovation in the educational
centres is the route to be taken in achieving general methodological renewal.
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Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011